A Massachusetts company is helping magazine publishers get in touch with iPhone users.

By Greg Turner

A Massachusetts company is helping magazine publishers get in touch with iPhone users.

Texterity Inc. is testing a digital magazine portal for Apple Inc.'s hot new multimedia gadget. Current editions of two dozen publications, ranging from The American Lawyer to WoodenBoat, are now available to iPhone users for free.

The Southborough company said its Web-based application creates an exact digital replica of a magazine's print edition, including content, graphics, advertisements and original layout.

The iPhone features a 3.5-inch color screen and users can zoom in and out of Web pages through the Safari browser.

``The iPhone is a leap forward in the integration of the Web and mobile devices,'' said Cimarron Buser, Texterity's vice president of marketing and product planning. ``With one tap, an iPhone user can read their favorite magazine anytime using the Texterity interface.''

Texterity already makes digital versions of more than 400 magazines featuring clickable ads, content search tools, and various page viewing and navigation functions. These can be viewed through virtually any Internet browser from a desktop computer or laptop.

Because of how the iPhone touch-screen works and the gadget's overall newness, Texterity actually had to cut back on the interactive features it typically employs for digital magazines.

``We turned off linking in the iPhone because it's hard to figure out how to click to do something or link to something,'' Buser said yesterday. ``It's very easy to inadvertently invoke a link when (a user's fingers are) sliding all over a page. ... In the first pass we decided to go for a simple
approach.''

Many magazine publishers are interested in reaching existing and new readers through the iPhone. Apple this week reiterated the company's target of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008.

Robert Cohn, consumer marketing director for Popular Science publisher Bonnier Corp., called the new digital editions ``ground-breaking.''

``We are always looking for new ways to expand our reach and Texterity's new iPhone reading experience will enable us to engage readers in a fresh and exciting way,'' he said

Other participating magazines include Craft, Industry Week, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Taste of Home and Vibe.

Buser expects the interface's beta phase to last three to six months, during which improvements will be made based on user feedback. Texterity is already lining up more magazines to offer free editions. Paid subscriptions would be implemented after the testing is done, he said.

The URL to read the magazines on an iPhone is http://iphone.texterity.com/magazines.

Greg Turner of The MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, Mass.) can be reached at gturner@cnc.com or 508-626-3909.